CHESTER and MIDLOTHIAN, Va. – Unleash your creative spirit and show off your talent at Fool for Art on April 21, 2012. This annual festival, held at John Tyler Community College’s Midlothian Campus, features a variety of art and craft vendors from around the state. If you are an artist and are interested in joining the fun as a vendor, there is still time. Visit www.jtcc.edu/foolforart to get a vendor application and to find out more about the festival. Artists whose applications are received by March 1, 2012 will be included in a print program, which is distributed around the Central Virginia area, and on the Fool for Art web site.

In addition to the arts and crafts area, Fool for Art will include a number of environmentally-friendly activities and displays thanks to a partnership with Chesterfield County. The festival also will feature hands-on demonstrations, displays, free educational sessions, food, music and much more.

John Tyler Community College is a two-year, public institution of higher education and is the fifth largest of the 23 community colleges in Virginia. With campuses in Chester and Midlothian and off-campus classrooms throughout the area, John Tyler offers quality and economical opportunities for students who want to earn a degree or certificate, transfer to a four-year college or university, train for the workforce, or switch careers. The College, which served more than 14,522 students during the 2010-11 academic year, offers 17 associate degrees, eight certificates, and 35 career studies certificates. The institution also serves 15,000 non-credit students and more than 1,000 companies and government agencies annually through the Community College Workforce Alliance. The College also is committed to sustainability. In July 2010, it received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification for its Midlothian Campus Science Building, becoming the first in the Virginia Community College System to receive such recognition. John Tyler Community College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.